Folded napkin



June 3, 1941. B. H. METTEIRNICH FOLDED NAPKIN Filed March 9, 1939 I in MEfZdI'H/EA Patented June 3, 1941 IOLDED NAPKIN Benjamin H. Metternlch, Ashland, Wis., assignor to Marathon Paper Mills Company, Rothschild, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application March 9, 1939, Serial No. 260,843

3 Claims.

This invention relates to folded sheets such as napkins or the like, particularly to paper napkins which have been folded for dispensing from a receptacle provided with a suitable opening for removing one napkin at a time.

One object of the invention is to provide a folded sheet which may be readily removed from the dispenser without tearing during such removal operation. It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel folded napkin which presents a folded edge extending transversely in an opening provided in the dispenser in which a stack of napkins are placed, the foremost napkin being so positioned as to be readily grasped by the fingers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folded napkin which has reinforced portions at the grasping portion whereby the napkin may be removed without tearing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a folded napkin which has thickened portions at the area provided for grasping by the fingers, but thinner portions above and below such grasping portions.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosure and drawing forming a part of the specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 illustrates a dispenser having a stack of napkins embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view ofa sheet of material showing the dotted lines along which the same is folded in accordance with this invention,

Figure 3 is a perspective view drawn to a reduced scale illustrating the sheet folded on its first fold,

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the second fold,

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the third fold,

Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the sheet as finally folded,

Figure 'l is a front view of the folded napkin in upright position,

Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken gitudinal fold lines l2 and I l. The sheet is first folded along the longitudinal line H as shown in Figure 3. It is then folded back on longitudinal line l2 shown in Figure 4 to produce a zigzag fold, thereby forming an elongated sheet having three-ply portions. The elongated ply is then folded upon fold line I l as shown in Figure 5. A symmetrically folded sheet is produced thereby. As shown in Figure 5, this multi-ply folded sheet has two open leg portions. One of the open leg portions is then folded inwardly upon fold line W as shown in Figure 6, thereby producing the final folded napkin as illustrated in Figure 6 and shown in upright position in Figure 7.

As illustrated in Figure 2, the longitudinal fold lines l2 and M are preferably equally spaced thereby producing three panels of equal width. The invention, however, is not restricted to any particular fold lines for producing the elongated plural-ply strip. For example, in Figure 9 a modified form of the longitudinally folded strip is shown. This multi-ply strip may then be folded over so as to produce a grasping portion similar to the folded napkin shown in Figure 7.

The folded napkin produced in accordance with this invention consists of a thick multi-ply grasping portion and thinner portions above and below the grasping portion. When a stack of these napkins are placed in a dispenser, as shown in Figure 8, the thick grasping portions ill of the napkins will tend to push the forward edge of the foremost napkin into grasping position outwardly of the dispenser, thereby facilitating removal of the foremost napkin from the dispenser. The inwardly folded portions of the grasping portion also serve to reinforce the napkin whereby tearing will be minimized. As shown in Figure 8, the upper lip portion 26 of the dispenser presses the upper thinner portion 5 of the napkin rearwardly and inwardly of the dispenser, whereas the grasping portion II) is positioned in position for ready grasping. As the foremost napkin is withdrawn the spring actuated pusher plate 30 of the dispenser will move the stack of napkins forwardly, thereby positioning the foremost napkin in proper position for dispensing. A further feature of the folded napkin is that the rear portion is entirely fiat so that no open edges will catch against the pusher plate 30, thereby ensuring smooth dispensing of the napkin.

The folded napkins made according to this invention, as previously explained, are stacked in a dispenser provided with a suitable opening from which the grasping portions can protrude for upper and lower body portions of the napkin which have a lesser number of plies. The grasping portion of the napkins will thus be pressed forwardly by the spring press pusher plate with.- in the dispenser, thereby always presenting the thick grasping portion for grasping by the fingers;

It is to be understood that changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied without departing from the principles of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A folded paper napkin to be stored and dispensed from a napkin dispenser, consisting of a rectangular sheet of paper having two longitudinal fold lines forming three panels, said sheet being folded upon said longitudinal fold lines to form a multi-ply elongated strip, said strip being then folded on a medial fold line to provide two symmetrical leg portions of multi-ply sheet material, one end of said leg portions being folded inwardly against the body portion along a fold line spaced a substantial distance from the open end of the other leg portion, thereby providing a grasping reinforced portion, the length of the inwardly folded portion being less than one-half the length of the leg portion.

2. A folded paper napkin to be stored and dispensed from a napkin dispenser, consisting of a rectangular sheet of paper having two longitudinal fold lines forming three panels of substantial equal width, said sheet being folded along said longitudinal fold lines to form an elongated multi-ply strip, said strip being folded on a medial fold line to produce a folded sheet having two leg portions, each leg portion having open ends, a portion of one leg portion being folded inwardly and in contact with the other portion, thereby providing a reinforced multi-ply grasping portion, the length of said inwardly folded portion being less than one-half the length of the leg portion.

3. A folded napkin to be stored and dispensed from a napkin dispenser, consisting of a rectangular sheet of paper having longitudinal fold lines defining three panels of substantial equal width, said sheet being folded in zig-zag fashion upon said longitudinal fold lines to provide an elongate multi-ply strip, said strip being then medially folded to provide a closed end portion and open end portion, the open end of one of said end portions being folded inwardly upon a fold line spaced a substantial distance from the open end of the other end portion, the length of the inwardly folded portion being less than one-half the length of the leg portion and spaced'from the said closed end portion to provide a thickened medial portion and thinner upper and lower portions adjacent said thickened portion, said thickened portion providing a reinforced grasping portion for removing the folded napkin from a dispenser in which same is stored.

BENJAMIN H. METTERNICH. 

